I stole the idea for this fic from a Pet Shop Boys song. (almost all my fics
are!) I call it cheese becuase it is. Cheesy. It was never written with the
intent of release so if it sucks I don't care. (I'm almost sure it sucks.) Why
am I releasing it now? I have no idea.

                                 ***********************************

A short and pointless Ranma 1\2 WAFF
By Nicky Townsend (NiChan1@AOL. com)


Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Communications, Inc.  I wish
they 
were mine but their not.  �A Different Point of View�  and �A New Life� belong
to 
the Pet Shop Boys and whatever record label they�re on, as the name escapes me
at 
the moment. Suing me is pointless. You�d just end up with my anime collection.
I 
don�t have a job and that is why I have time to write in the first place. 


					Point of View			
		


3:29. One minute till class was over. Ranma sat at his desk with his head
propped up 
with one hand. Somehow Akane was managing to pay rapt attention to the
sensei�s 
lecture all the way to the end of class. It was beautiful outside. 
Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...RRIINNGG!
!!! �Oh 
Thank God� Ranma said jumping out of his seat and was going to make a run for
the 
door when Hiroshi blocked his exit.

�Hey, I got a new CD player. Wanna come over and check it out?�

�Come on, you know I�m not into that kinda stuff.�

�Ranma, you�ve never come to my house. You ARE coming. NOW.�

�yeah ,yeah you win this time. Next time we Ro-Sham-Bo for it�

�What�s that?

�It�s something I saw on some American TV show. I kick you in the nuts and
then 
you kick me in the nuts and whoever falls down first loses!�

�Like it isn�t totally obvious who would win that!�

Ranma blinked his eyes really fast and tried to look innocent and failed
miserably. 
�Whatever are you talking about?�

Hiroshi rolled his eyes. �Come on�


				**************************

 �So this is your room, huh?�

�Yeah� Against one wall was a entertainment center, and the opposite side had
a bed. 
No other furniture. The walls had a bunch of pictures of women, most of them
were 
American looking, and not wearing much if anything at all. Hiroshi plopped him
self 
down on the floor and started taking CD cases out of a CD tree, wich was
absolutely 
full on all sides. He turned on one of many stereo components, adjusted
something, 
and turned on another component, this one being the CD player that Hiroshi
seemed 
so proud of. He took two CD�s out, put them in their respective cases, and
replaced 
them with two other CD�s and one of them had a frighteningly orange cover the 
other being somewhat nondescript with the exception of two faces on the cover.

Meanwhile, Ranma was eyeing all this electrical STUFF warily. �you know that I
have no idea what half of that stuff is right?�

So while Hiroshi was setting up, Ranma learned everything he never wanted to
know 
about stereo equipment and how it worked, even how to build it and hook it up
if he 
ever broke his mold and decided he wanted to. Finally after playing with
numerous 
switches and dials, the music started. Almost as a side note Hiroshi asked �
do you 
understand English?

�I can understand it spoken, but I can�t read it.�

�That�s fine, just listen.� So Ranma laid back on the floor and listened to
music he 
never thought he�d like, from a culture he knew nothing about. About the
fourth 
song, after nothing spoken for about twenty minutes, Hiroshi said �This song
kind of 
reminds me of you and Akane.� Ranma listened to each word carefully trying to 
recall the old English lessons from school. He had a pretty good idea of what
was 
going on.

�Ya know, I think you�re right� Ranma said with sort of a lopsided smile as he
shook 
his head, and also committed the lyrics to memory, for a laugh later.        

After a few other songs, Hiroshi changed the CD. It was still the same band.
Hiroshi 
played a couple of his favorite songs, one of which Ranma decided that he
really 
liked *a new life? I wish.* The song seemed to know what it was like to be
him. It 
was strange. And it made him think.

Ranma left shortly after that. Hiroshi didn�t really care how long he stayed,
just that 
he�d been there and hadn�t talked about martial arts the whole time.

Ranma continued to think. All the way home. He had to stick to the road, too, 
because his brain decided it wanted to devote itself to thought for a change,
and he 
kept falling off the railings.

And when he arrived home for dinner, he inhaled his food silently(as silently
as one 
can inhale food, that is) not saying a word to anyone, not even bothering to
fight 
with his father.

Akane watched him, wondering what was wrong.  Ranma was never this silent. It 
went against his nature (which is to be the center of attention) She would
talk to him 
later, she decided, and find out what was bothering him. So she didn�t want to
marry 
him, but she was his friend , right?	



	
				****************************



Much later that night, perhaps 10:30PM, Ranma sat on the roof of the Tendo ke,
singing quietly to himself, as he looked at the stars. The night was clear,
and they 
were far enough from Tokyo itself (although Nerima is technically part of 
Tokyo)for it�s lights not to dim the beauty of the stars.

A moment later Akane climbed onto the roof to talk to him as she promised
herself 
that she would. She got a big shock. First, Ranma didn�t know she was there
yet. 
Normally he knew where she was before she did. Second, he was singing to
himself, 
something she never expected in a million years. She didn�t think Ranma had
any 
interest in music at all, let alone something that was in English. She didn�t
know 
Ranma spoke English at all, even a little. An now he was singing. Fluently.
Akane 
had a pretty good command of the language herself so she could make out what
he 
was saying. Kind of. 

�At night and it hits me cold,
There is so much more to life
Then I�ll ever know,
I look around and I realize,
It�s time to make a move,
That you don�t supervise,�

�Stars,
Collect in my head,
Then I look down at the chair,
And I might as well be dead,
Cars,
Pass on threw the night,
How do you get to heaven,
 If you never try?�

�New  life,
A new love,
Where�s the heart,
I was dreaming of?
I need a new hope,
And a new dream,
Another heart,
In a different scene�

�Make a firm decision, 
It�s time to go,
That�s for you to find out,
And for me to know,
Now more hot times,
Or petty crimes,
Forget that life,
I�ve left behind�

�The night goes by,
Leaving you behind me
As I fly
How do you get to Heaven,
If you never try?�

�New life
A new love,
Where�s the heart,
I was dreaming of
I need a new hope,
And a new dream
And another heart,
In a different scene�

Akane listened as he sang *what a sad song, I hope he isn�t singing that with
me in 
mind* Akane thought. She realized that he was done. So she showed her 
appreciation. She clapped

Ranma spun around on the roof so fast he almost slipped. �Akane! So you were 
listening, huh? So when are you going to start laughing at me?�

Akane sat down beside him. �I�m not going to. You sing very well. And that
song was 
beautiful. Where did you hear it?�
 
�When I was at Hiroshi�s this afternoon.  Some weird British band. I heard
this other 
song that kinda reminded me of us�

�You and me?�

�No, me and Shampoo. Of course me and you, stupid. You�re my fiancee, not
them, 
whether they like it or not.�

Akane�s heart leapt  * I wonder if he means that, or if he�s just saying that
so I won�t 
get mad* �Did you memorize that one too?�

�Yeah, did you want to hear it?

Akane nodded her head. Ranma stood up and mimed having a mic in his hand. He 
�kicked� the �cord� behind him and began.

�When I�m sitting so close to you
These only one thing that I want to do
But I know what you�re likely to say
That I�m going about it the wrong way
We can�t agree about anything
Where to go or even where we�ve been
And I know what you�re likely to do
Say that I never cared about you�

�And all I want to say is that �I love you�
But you tell me now, you don�t believe it�s true
You�ve got a different, a different, a different point of view
You got a different point of view�

�You don�t believe a single word I say
If  I said black was white you�d say it was gray
And in spite of being treated this way
I still dream of you all night and day�

�And all I want to say is that �I love you� 
But you tell me now you don�t believe it true
You�ve got a different , a different , a different point of view
You�ve got a different point of view�

�Just this once...
Just say yes...
Please...�

�You�ve got a clever way of haunting me
I�m never scared but you�re still daunting me
�Cause I know what you�re likely to say
And I know that you�ll get you�re own way�

�And all I want to say is that �I love you�
But you tell me now you don�t believe it�s true
You�ve got a different, a different, a different point of view
You�ve got a different point of view�



Akane�s eyes were shining as she listened to the words. His eyes were closed
as he 
rocked back and forth to the remembered beat, holding his imaginary
microphone. 
That alone was an endearing sight. But the words...

So it was that way for both of them, then. After finishing the song, he took a
bow, 
and  Akane applauded. �I had no idea you could sing that well.� 

Ranma blushed. �You�d never know it, but Oyaji has this thing for kereoke. And
he�d 
always drag me with him. I got good at it, but it�s not like I wanted to.
So... what did 
you think of the song?�

�You�re right. Describes us perfectly. Did... you ever want to change that?
When I 
heard you singing that fist song I hoping that I wasn�t on your mind.�

�Why is that?� 

�Because it sounds like it�s about someone who�s leaving their lover for
someone 
else.� Akane said quietly

�It is, but it�s more about being free, as I see it, ya know?� Ranma had a
tone to his 
voice that she�d never heard before, almost like the words were pouring out of
him 
and he didn�t even know what they would be until he heard them �It�s about
someone 
who�s not happy the way things are. If the girl in the song had a face for me,
it would 
be my girl side. To �leave her behind�. That song kinda means, to me anyway,
that I 
won�t really be happy until I can start a new life without my girl side.
Anyway the 
cards fall, I will try my danmdest, for the rest of my life, if need be, to
get rid of 
this curse. It�s not fair to you to have to marry someone whose half a man...�

His voice had started strong when he began to explain his meaning, but he
trailed off 
after his last statement. And Akane realized that she had just been given a
window to 
his soul, whether he had done it on purpose or not. And that meant that he
trusted 
her a lot, probably more then even Ukyo. She knew when they had problems,
Ranma 
went to Ukyo�s to vent. But now he trusted her enough to tell her what was
inside 
his head.

Ranma was standing on the edge of the roof, wondering himself, why he�d said
such 
a thing to Akane. Who knows what will happen now. But he hadn�t known what was
going to come out. It was a feeling that he tried to put words to, to define
what that 
feeling was. Hearing that song this afternoon helped him define it, and
voicing it to 
Akane helped, too. And so he stood at the edge of the roof, waiting for her 
response, not having the faintest idea of what to expect. 

�That is absolutely fascinating, Ranma. Now I understand your point of view
better. 
I�ll try not to tease you about your curse again.� Akane stood up and hugged
him.  
�Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me something like that� She kissed
him 
on the cheek, and climbed off the roof, back down, into the house, leaving him
to 
whatever thoughts his head might contain.

He sat down again, with his legs hanging of the side. *Wow. That was weird. It
was 
cool. But it was weird. I should talk to you more often, shouldn�t I, Akane? I
might 
understand your point of view better, too* And he stayed on the roof for quite
while, thinking, maybe she�d kiss him on the lips next time, instead of just
on the 
cheek. 


Author�s notes:

Did you get the South Park reference? In case you don�t know, South Park is on
Comedy Central at 10:00PM Pacific. That particular reference is from the
episode 
with Mecha Striesand, and Robert Smith from the Cure, turning into this giant 
butterfly to kill her. Don�t ask me. I thought it was weird, too. Anyway,
those two 
songs were by the Pet Shop Boys. �A Different Point of View� is from their
1993 
album �Very�,  and �A New Life� is from their 1995 double CD B-side
compilation, 
�Alternative Pet Shop Boys�. That�s all. I hope you liked it.

PS. I tried to keep them in character, a least a little bit. I failed
miserably. Gomen 
Nasai.